Ad Hoc Issue Committee Minutes

Taxpayer Advocacy Panel
Ad Hoc Teleconference
September 14, 2006

Designated Federal Official (DFO)

• Nancy L. Ferree, TAP Program Manager, Plantation, FL

Members Present

• Rashidah Abdulhaqq, Cleveland, OH
• Larry Combs, Yuba City, CA
• Patrice Marker, Davie, FL, Chair
• Donald Miller, Loudon, TN
• Ralph Rivera, Garland, TX

Members Absent

• George Bates, Great Fall, MT, Vice Chair
• Emilio Cecchi, North Bethesda, MD
• JoAnn Davis, Scott Depot, WV
• Margaret Ferguson, Vista, CA
• Dorothy Havey, Lincolnville, ME
• Gim Hom, Acton, MA
• Willy Nordwind, Scottsdale, AZ

IRS Program Owners

• Marilyn Correa, MLI Strategy Office, Senior Policy Analyst
• Sue Sottile, Director of Tax Forms and Publications

Staff Present

• Inez E. De Jesus, TAP Program Analyst
• Isai Pallango, Intern and Note Taker

Welcome and Announcements
Chair Patrice Marker opened the meeting by welcoming everyone. Since Chair and Vice-Chair will not be available on the October 12, 2006 teleconference meeting, Chair Marker requested a volunteer and Don Miller offered to sit in for the Chair. Miller requested that he be kept informed of all pertinent information that would be needed prior to the meeting.

Roll Call
Five members present; Quorum was not met.

Review and Approve Minutes August 10, 2006
Since quorum was not met, these minutes will be reviewed during the next call.

Update Information from the Prior Meeting:

Information on the Redesigning of the Form 1040 Project (Issue 3922)
Sue Sottile shared that there has been some set-backs with the funding for the redesigning of Form-1040. This entails the instructions of the form as well. Her staff is working with the contractor who is researching with states and countries to distinguish which form/instructions works well with tax payers within those states and countries. They are reviewing the best practices. She will have more to brief early next year. There are three major Tax Bills pending and IRS Tax Forms and Pubs Unit is now in the middle of the busiest time of the year. Form 1040 will remain the same; the changes in Form-1040 will most likely take place for year 2009. Sottile also shared that there are draft forms available on the irs.gov website and she will be sending the link for this committee to look at.

Forms and Pubs Subcommittee’s Report:
Chair Patrice Marker mentioned the sub-committee minutes prepared by Emilio Cecchi dated September 6, 2006 in regards to The Financial Literacy Toolkit, Issue 3923. Listed were the suggestions that will be incorporated into the proposal. Emilio Cecchi had indicated that he had other commitments but would attempt to write up the proposal shortly. Chair Patrice Marker wanted to have panel members review the draft proposal, possibly agree and provide input no later than September 30, 2006. Nancy Ferree shared that she had e-mailed the three attorney advisors from Washington, DC and asked if there were any brochures that needed to be reviewed prior to submitting final input, but she has not received a response yet. Ferree will keep everyone informed. Since there was no quorum, Chair Marker has requested that consensus be reached via e-mail on the Financial Literacy Toolkit, so that this proposal is sent to the IRS Program Owner Bridget Mallon no later than September 30, 2006.

Review/Approve Draft Proposal: Issue 3303- MLI Needs Assessment:
The latest version is available on TAP Speak and has been circulated for the entire committee to see. Since there was no quorum, Chair Marker requested that consensus be reached via email. DFO Ferree agreed. Inez is to send an email out to all with a one week due date to obtain consensus and then send to IRS Program Owner Marilyn Correa.

IRS Program Owner’s Direction/Comments
Marilyn Correa shared two accomplishments from the MLI Program Office:

1. They were able to show the interactive DVD in Spanish at the Tax Forums and received good feedback.
2. Developed in partnership with TAS, a one hour soap opera type video/movie in Spanish with English subtitles on how to complete proper tax filing procedures. The main character is a new immigrant in this country. This video will be made available in about two weeks.

Member Comments
Inez inquired if the members were still experiencing problems with opening the documents she was sending out by email. Don Miller responded that he was still getting the win.dat message which displays an unreadable document. Chair Marker provided some input on how this matter may be resolved. Inez will from now on send out the Microsoft Word version and PDF version under separate emails, as well as using the TAPSpeak website.

Public Input
None.

Closing Assessment/ Q & A
Since there was no quorum during the teleconference call, Chair Marker has requested that consensus be reached via e-mail on the MLI LEP Proposal (Issue 3303), and the Financial Literacy Toolkit, (Issue 3923) so that both of these proposals are sent to the IRS Program Owners by no later than September 30, 2006. Inez is to coordinate these issues by sending out an email for the benefit of those who were not present on the call.

Chair adjourned the meeting.

Next Teleconference Meeting October 12, 2006 at 2:00 PM ET

*Certification: These meeting minutes were approved by the TAP Ad Hoc Committee by consensus on: October 13, 2006.